Garment hanger



Nov. 22, 1955 w. K. YOUNGBERG 2,724,509

GARMENT HANGER Filed May 21, 1954 INVENTOR WALTER K. YOU/VGBEPG ATTORNEYS GARMENT HANGER Walter K. Youngberg, Middletown, Conn. Application May 21, 1954, Serial No. 431,440

1 Claim. ((1 21ll--9ii) The present invention relates generally to expansible sheet metal shelving and, more particularly, to a removable garment hanger particularly adapted for use in combination with such shelving.

An advantageous form of shelving for use in closets and the like is one which is fabricated of sheet metal and arranged in two mutually supported sections for relative sliding or telescoping movement so that the length of the shelf may be adjusted on the job to exactly fit the particular installation. The present invention is applied to such shelving of the type in which the rear longitudinal edges of the shelf sections are provided with interengaging or nesting L-shaped flanges which not only serve as a decorative border imparting longitudinal rigidity to the shelf, but also function to maintain the shelf sections in sliding engagement and in mutually supported relationship.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a simple garment support which can be easily and quickly attached to or detached from the rear edge of the shelving to provide convenient and useful hangers for garments and the like situated at selected positions along the rear edge of the shelf and supported thereby. Included in this aim is the object of providing such a clothes hook which is of attractive form so as to enhance the appearance of the shelf assembly and which is simple and economical to manufacture.

A further aim is to provide a clothes hook for use in combination with shelving of the type referred to wherein the clothes hook will be supported in a relatively rigid manner despite the ease of assembly and disassembly of the hooks and shelving and wherein the mounting of the hooks will not interfere with the adjustment of the length of the shelving even though the shelf sections overlap at the hook locations.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a combined shelving and garment hanger assembly constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top view with the horizontal portion of the shelving cut away to show the relationship of the parts;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to Figure 2 and showing the manner of assembling the garment support on the shelving; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the support.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly the perspective view of the complete assembly shown in Figure l, the shelving of the type to which the present invention 2,724,509 Patented Nov. 22, 1955 2. may be advantageously applied comprises two sections, 10 and 12, which are arranged in mutually supported telescoping fashion. The section 10 comprises a horizontal portion 14 provided at its front edge with a channel-like flange 16 and at its rear edge with a flange 18 consisting of a vertical section 20 and an inwardly bent horizontal section 22.

The shelf section 12 is similarly formed with a horizontal portion 26, channel-like flange 28 along its front edge and a rear L-shaped flange 30 similarly having a vertical portion 32 and a horizontal lip 34.

The dimensions of the shelf section 12 are slightly smaller than the dimensions of the shelf section 10, so that they may be telescoped together in the manner shown in Figure l of the drawings. As a result of this construction the shelving may be adjusted longitudinally on the job to provide the precise length for the specific installation. The shelving may be supported at both ends to form a rigid shelf, inasmuch as the two sections are mutually supported by the overlapping or telescoping arrangernent.

In accordance with the invention the vertical wall 20 of the L-shaped flange 18 of the larger section 10 is formed with a plurality of spaced apertures 38 for the purpose of receiving garment supports 40 of the type most clearly shown in their entirety in Figure 5 of the drawings. In accordance with the invention the supports 40 are removable so that the shelving may be packaged and shipped without the garment supports attached thereto, and so that the user may select the particular apertures in which he wishes to dispose the supports as desired in any given installation.

The support 44 is of simple construction so that it may be economically fabricated, and includes a flared hook portion 42 and vertical shank 44 preferably formed of a flat metal strap of relatively heavy gauge, so as to pre vent bending. The upper end of the shank 44 is inwardly bent at 46 to form a horizontal band 48 provided at its inner end with an upwardly extending tab or offset 50. The offset portion 59 is secured adjacent the top of the rear surface of a metal plate 54 in a suitable manner, such as by spot welding. As best shown in Figures 3 and 5, the metal plate 54 is inwardly bent along the side edges 56 and 58 to form a pocket for the offset portion 50. Also, as best shown in Figures 2 and 4, the height of the plate 54 is such that it will snugly fit or wedge between the horizontal portion 14 of the shelf section 1i) and the horizontal lip 22 of the flange 18, thereby firmly fixing the support in assembled position.

in order to assemble the garment support in any one of the selected apertures 29;, the hook portion 42 is inserted through the aperture 38 from the interior of the L-shaped flange 18, and then the hook is pulled down and around until the metal plate 54 is disposed with its lower edge in the lower corner of the L-shaped flange, as best shown in Figure 4. There'upon the hanger may be further moved to the fully seated position shown in Figure 2, with the metal plate 54 firmly wedged between the horizontal portion 14 and the horizontal lip 22, and with the horizontal portion 43 of the hanger extending through the aperture 38 and the shank lying flat against the outer surface of the wall 20 of the flange. With the hanger mounted in this manner, it will be appreciated that the hook is firmly retained in position so that it cannot swivel or otherwise move with respect to the shelf, and the structure is sufiiciently compact so that the shelving may be placed in close proximity to a rear wall or" a closet or the like.

As will be appreciated, the hangers 49 are assembled on the larger shelf section 10 before the shelf sections 10 and 12 are telescoped together to provide the desired length of shelving for the particular installation. It is an advantage of the present invention that the arrangement for mounting the support 40 will in no way interfere with the telescoping, and hence the adjustable feature of the shelving. As best illustrated in Figure 3, there is a slight clearance between the rear walls of the L-shaped flanges of the two sections resulting from normal manufacturing tolerances and also to facilitate telescoping movement, which does not in any way detract from the desired rigidity of the shelf. As previously described, the metal plate 54 is provided with inwardly bent side edges 56 and 53 in the nature of a bevel or cam, which are so arranged that as the shelf sections are telescoped togather, the beveled edge facing the leading edge of flange 30 will engage behind the wall section 32, and thus will act as a cam permitting the wall section 32 to easily pass by and over the metal plate 54 without jamming the parts or otherwise interfering with the telescoping action. The overlapping of the shelf sections at the location of one of the hanger plates 54 is illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings. The overlapping of the sections in this manner further assists in firmly anchoring the hanger in operative position. 7

It thus will be apparent that there has been provided in accordance with the invention a simple and economical arrangement for providing garment hangers in combination with metal shelving. The arrangement is pleasing in appearance whether or not the hangers are located in an overlapped portion of the shelving, and the hangers are rigid and firmly seated despite the fact that they may be easily assembled or disassembled, as desired, to afford garment supports at various locations along the shelving.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

A hanger for garments and the like comprising, in combination, a pair of telescoping sheet metal shelf sections comprising a first section having a horizontal platform provided at its rear edge with a depending L-shaped flange providing a vertical rear wall having a horizontal lip, said vertical rear wall being formed with spaced apertures, a second section having a horizontal platform provided with a flange dimensioned to slide within the flange of the first section, a garment support in the form of a hook having a shank extending through an aperture from the interior of the L-shaped flange and depending downwardly from the rear surface thereof, and a retainer in the form of a thin metal plate connected to the upper end of the shank and disposed in close proximity to the interior surface of the rear wall of said L-shaped flange, said plate being beveled along the side edge thereof to permit the flange of the second section to slide thereover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,140,940 Bales May 25, 1915 1,581,886 Strand Apr. 20, 1926 2,266,274 Schroeder Dec. 16, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 138,972 Great Britain Feb. 26, 1920 228,984 Great Britain Feb. 12, 1925 

